The format of this book is that of fifteen short stories, each taking place in a different period of history in Makor, a fictional site in Israel. There are two common threads that link the stories together. One is the frame story, which is contained mostly in the initial and ultimate chapters, but is also interspersed with the stories. The other common thread is the family of Ur, which has a direct male-line descendent as a main character in every chapter, including the frame story. Each chapter is accompanied by a map of Makor at that time, and each describes a development in Judaism or religion in general.

Psalm of the Hoopoe Bird(963 BCE): An engineer named Jabaal "the Hoopoe" contrives an ingenious defense for Makor's well. Jabaal worships both Yahweh, the Hebrew god, and Baal, the old pagan god. Gershom, fictional writer of the psalms, appears in Makor; later, King David also makes an appearance. This is easily my favorite chapter in the book--Jabaal's story could be a book on its own.

This is an excellent book (though not great literature) that I would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about Jewish history. There are also chapters significant to the development of Islam and Chrisitanity, but the book is primarily about the Jews.